The Rockford IceHogs Community Fund (ICF) has awarded $152,000 in grants to support 12 Rockford area organizations for the fiscal year 2026 grant cycle. Six of this year’s grants are renewals supported by the ICF last year, two are awards to organizations the ICF supported two years ago, and four recipients are new partners this year.
Supporting youth sports programs with an emphasis on growing the game of hockey continues to be a primary area of focus for the ICF as four of this year’s grants will support hockey programs in the Rockford region.
The largest award is a $40,000 grant to Rockford Hockey Club (RHC), bringing the four-year grant award total from the ICF to RHC to $90,000. Those grant dollars have helped RHC reduce costs at the 8U level and bring in 50 new players over the last three years. About half of this year’s grant dollars to RHC will be utilized to reduce fees for 8U players and recruit another 20 new players into the system. This impact has a “trickle-up” effect for RHC that allows for additional fundraising efforts to keep costs more affordable at all levels and keep participation strong across every age group…